Daily Archives: November 14, 2006
As expected, the Red Sox have been granted permission to negotiate with Japanese RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka in exchange for $51.1 million, according to MLB.com.
According to the Associated Press, the Mets have re-signed 2B Jose Valentin to a one-year, $3.8 million contract with a club option for 2008. The option is guaranteed at $4.3 million if nets 400 plate appearances in 2007.
Also, the AP notes that Orlando Hernandez will earn a $1 million signing bonus, and will be paid $4.5 million next season and $6.5 million in 2008.
At his blog for the Journal News, John Delcos quotes Mets GM Omar Minaya as saying the Mets have made a proposal to free-agent OF Cliff Floyd, as well as to free-agent RHP Chad Bradford.
Minaya also informs Delcos about the return of Jose Valentin and Orlando Hernandez, and the team’s post-Matsuzaka plan.
…for starters, this club has got to get bradford back…as i see it, this must be a vital part to omar’s off-season plan…otherwise, he’ll be scrambling to plug a very valuable hole, to a very valuable part of last season’s success…
…as for floyd, i would love to know what the proposal is…if he signs on for one more season, he could end up being the club’s best option, assuming Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee are off the table…i mean, if it comes down to trading for Kevin Mench, or Geoff Jenkins, or signing a Shannon Stewart or a Frank Catalanotto, i think i may prefer to bring back a hungry floyd, who feels he has something to prove…
Initially, the Daily News, Newsday and SI.com reported that the Mets and RHP Orlando Hernandez have agreed to a two-year deal worth $6 million in total.
At his blog for Newsday, David Lennon confirms what Ken Rosenthal originally reported at FOXSports.com, which is that the two-year deal is worth $12 million, thus $6 million per season.
The Cubs and free-agent Mark DeRosa have agreed to a three-year deal worth $13 million, reports Buster Olney at ESPN.com.
…i am a bit disappointed…i think this guy would have been a good fit here with the mets, but not three years from now…so, good luck in chicago…
…more than anything, though, i am disappointed for my friend, anthony de rosa, from hot foot, who could have had a non-custom-custom-made mets jersey with his last name on it…sorry, man…
…the buzz from the pitcher’s market is insane…the early word on what teams are asking for in trades, and the salaries requested by free-agent pitchers, are downright painful to hear…for instance, talk out of 
chicago suggests the White Sox are seeking a young pitching prospect, along the lines of Mike Pelfrey, or Phil Humber, in exchange for Freddy Garcia or Javier Vazquez, which is silly to me, because of those four i think i’d prefer pelfrey…
In Newsday, Ken Davidoff reminds us that Mets GM Omar Minaya tried to acquire Vazquez from the D’backs last season, before the pitcher was traded to Chicago.
…i’m getting the sense the mets are still hot for vazquez, but could be asked to part with Aaron Heilman to get him, which would allow the white sox to replace Brandon McCarthy in the bullpen, who would then replace vazquez in the rotation…
According to Dan Graziano, in the Star-Ledger, the Mets have recently talked with the White Sox, and are also “paying attention” to the market for Marlins LHP Dontrelle Willis and Padres RHP Jake Peavy, both of whom could 
be, but are not said to be, available via trade.
…the bottom line, to me, is that while minaya is open to signing a guy like Barry Zito as a free-agent, i think he would prefer to make an upgrade to his rotation through the trade market, or he may look to do both, i suppose…
Also on the trade market, in the New York Post, Joel Sherman notes that the Rockies have let teams know that they are willing to trade RHP Jason Jennings.
In 32 starts for Colorado last season, Jennings, 28, posted a 3.78 ERA while opponents hit just .258 against him.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that free-agent RHP Vicente Padilla is seeking a four-year, $40–million deal.
…the buzz from seattle points to free-agent RHP Gil Meche asking for at least a three-year deal worth roughly $9 million per season…
The Red Sox and Cubs may have interest in Meche or Padilla, in addition to eventually adding RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, writes the Boston Herald.
…these are lofty prices…$9 million for meche, who is 10 games below .500 for his career…four years for padilla, who is 29 years old with a 4.09 career ERA…zito wants contract of seven years, after which point he’ll be 35 years old…and the sox and rockies want top pitching prospects for pitchers who had been equally as bad as they’ve been good…
…it’s a wild market place…no wonder all the gm’s are wearing hawaiin shirts…they’ve all lost their minds…
For some photos from yesterday’s groundbreaking for Citi Field, check out Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.
D’Backs RHP Brandon Webb has been awarded the NL Cy-Young Award for 2006.
Padres RHP Trevor Hoffman finished second in the voting, Cardinals RHP Cris Carpenter finished third and Astros RHP Roy Oswalt finished fourth.
At Hot Foot, Anthony links to an interesting photo of Padres RHP Jake Peavy, in what appears to be the pitcher taking shots of Jagermeister straight from the bottle.
…ah, brings back memories…
…good times, good times…
According to the Associated Press, former-Mets OF Darryl Hamilton has been hired by the commissioner’s as MLB’s senior specialist of on-field operations.
Hamilton has spent the last three years working as a broadcaster MLB Radio…
…i haven’t listened to mlb radio in a while, but does ham-bone still have a ban on all things mets, thanks to the way he was treated by Bobby Valentine…i always found this to be pretty funny, since it was more shtick for hamilton than substance…
…thanks to nbc dan for the info…
